Leaving
by purpleprettyclouds
Summary: Leaving was always the hardest part. But leaving doesn't have to mean leaving a certain place.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****The Outsiders. **

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I stepped out on the front porch of my house, well my _old_ house, and looked around. I was going to miss Tulsa. This was the place where I grew up and had all my first's. Surprisingly, I was going to miss being a Greaser. I never thought that I would ever miss that. We were all classified as bad influences with no purpose. It was always a pet peeve of mine. Ever since I hit that stage years ago.

I slowly went back inside and picked up the only suitcase I had. Ponyboy and Darry were already outside putting things in the truck. A moving truck had already came by to pick up all of our things, besides clothes and stuff like that. We were moving. To Flordia. Darry had decided that it would be better if we moved out there. He applied for a job and it just so happens he got it. Apparently the pay was better down south.

"You can drive, Soda," Darry told me while he was locking the door. When the door was closed and locked up, it felt like a piece of me had went missing. I just nodded my head and started up the truck. It made the same, noise everytime we put the key in the iginition. I guess we get used to it after a while. It wasn't long until Ponyboy climbed in next to me, and Darry came behind him. Once everybody was in, I began our journey to Flordia.

While we were driving through the streets we all grew up around, thoughts began to cloud my mind. Dally and Johnny were both gone, so that left Steve and Two-Bit. Well, just Two-Bit I guess. Steve was drafted into the war about a month ago. Two-Bit demanded that he would come with us, but I knew we couldn't take him. I could only imagine Two-Bit on a beach, and of course, there's lots of girls on a beach. I quietly laughed at the thought.

Ponyboy never really said much about moving. I think he was actually excited about moving. At least Ponyboy wouldn't have to finish his school years here now. It was April, so the middle of the last semester of the year for Ponyboy. If we were still staying here it wouldn't be long before he finished grade 10. And well Darry. Darry couldn't be happier to get a better job with more money. But what was I thinking about all this? Well, I don't even know the answer to that question myself.

Florida brought back old memories. When Sandy left me she moved to Flordia with her grandmother. She was pregnant at the time, so I guess she had her baby by now. I just decided to block that memory out, forever. Flordia's a big place. There's no way we'd ever meet up again. Its over, I told myself.

I still wasn't completely sure on what I was doing when I got to Flordia. I had to quit my job at the DX in order to come here. I guess I'll just figure out once I get there. I broke my thoughts and tried to talk with Darry and Ponyboy for a while. When I came back to Earth, they were talking about sports, I think. After all, I decided not to join in. I just tried to focus on the long road ahead of me.

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**Continue? .. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****The Outsiders. **

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After days of driving we finally made it to Flordia. We did stop along the way to sleep and get food though. Everyday I kept missing home more and more. But I wouldn't tell Ponyboy and Darry that though. Ponyboy seemed to like the new house, and so did Darry. Ponyboy liked the fact that he only had to walk to the end of the street and cross the road to get to the school. I'd hate having school that close by.

Our new house was blue on the outside. It didn't look anything like our old house back in Tulsa. This house was a luxury compared to our old house. I was still wondering how Darry got the money to pay for something like this. But that was still in the back of my mind. The inside of the house was even better. It had 3 rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a bathroom. I thought that was pretty good. At least we all had a room to our own. Ponyboy would probably want to keep sleeping with me in my room, he might have one of those nightmares again.

I laid my suitcase down and took a closer look around. All of our other stuff was scattered all around the house. "Well we got a job ahead of us," Ponyboy mumbled as he stepped over a lamp on the floor. I groaned and laid my suitcase down. I wasn't in the mood to fix up the place right now. Instead I decided I would go outside and look around. I didn't bother telling Ponyboy or Darry where I was going because they were already fixing the place up. Quietly I trudged out of our new house and onto the wooden deck. I walked down the concrete steps and went out on the green grass.

There was a house similar to ours on my left and I was wondering who lived there. It was probably just an old couple since the house was small. I broke my thoughts and decided to walk down the sidewalk. I noticed the school that Ponyboy was going to attend. It looked bigger than his old school on the outside. The inside was probably much bigger though. I crossed the road carefully and sat in a bus station shelter. I just wanted to be alone for a while.

While I was sitting there, away from the sun, a young girl with light brown hair slowly walked down the road with a baby in a stroller. I think the baby was a boy, I wasn't really sure. The girl looked familier in a way. It must of just reminded me of some girl back in Tulsa that looked like her. She didn't notice me though. I guess the shade was blocking me out. If she was a girl back in Tulsa I would of already flirted with her, but something about her made me want to stay away. Maybe it was because she had a baby. I finally stopped thinking about her and went back home.

When I opened the door I seen that the living room was all furnished and Ponyboy and Darry had already been working on the kitchen. "Need any help?" I asked while I shut the door. Darry peeked around the corner.

"We could use some right about now," Darry responded. I quietly heard Ponyboy grumble about something. I went in the kitchen and looked around. All the dishes had to be put away, so I decided that I would do that. That's how the whole evening went actually. Somehow we got everything put into place and the house looked really nice. I was actually pleased with myself. I chuckled at the thought.

"So are you excited about school tomorrow, Ponyboy?" I asked while getting some chocolate milk from the fridge.

"Yeah." I laughed. Well Ponyboy didn't change, that was for sure.

"Of course _you _would be excited for school," I replied while picking up his bookbag from the middle of the floor and throwing it at him. He caught it in just the nick of time and put in on the edge of the couch.

"So Soda, meet any girls while you were out today?"

"No, I didn't. I wasn't looking."

"That's a surprise," Darry muttered from under his breath. Darry went over and sat in his chair with the newspaper. I just shook my head and headed for my bedroom.

"I'm going to bed, night," I announced.

I could hear the echo from both of their voices as I walked down the hollow hall. It didn't take long before I was lost in a deep sleep. I didn't have enough energy to think anymore.

xXxXx

When I woke up the next morning I turned over so I could be facing the window. It looked cloudy today, but the sun was slowly coming out from where it was hiding behind a cloud. After letting the new setting soak in, I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It said that it was 11:00. Ponyboy was already gone to school but Darry must of been around the house somewhere. I got out of my bed so I could take a better look out the window. The truck was gone so I guess Darry was too. He was probably just out getting some groceries or something.

After getting breakfast I decided that I would get ready and go out for a bit. But before I could even step out of the house Ponyboy bolted through the door. He stumbled into me and he quickly straightened up. "Sorry," Ponyboy mumbled.

"What's the big rush?"

"Its just lunchtime. I want to make sure that I'm home and back to school before 1," he explained. I looked at the clock on the wall.

"Its only 12:15," I pointed out. Ponyboy tilted his head towards the clock and nodded his head. He walked past me and went into the kitchen. "I'm going out for a bit, talk to you later, Pony."

I heard Ponyboy say bye as I shut the door behind me. I looked up at the sun and sighed. I missed Tulsa. The being a Greaser part I could live without, but a part of me wanted to go back so badly. Maybe someday I'd go back again. Maybe I could convince Darry to go back over Christmas. I sighed again as I realized that Christmas was another 2 months away.

I jumped off the front step and started to walk down on the sidewalk. I wasn't really paying attention to anything until I bumped into the same girl that I seen yesterday. The girl stopped and looked up at me. Her dark green eyes were staring at me. Even though I was taller than her, it still seemed like she was staring _me_ down. "I- I'm sorry," I muttered. She didn't look very pleasant.

"You should be. Watch where you're going," she mumbled as she darted past me. I could only think of what her problem was. I was positive that she was the same girl as I had seen yesterday while I was sitting in the bus shelter. But she didn't seem to be the same person. Yesterday she seemed like a happy, cheerful person. But today she was a complete wreck and mess. When her eyes met mine I could see the hurt behind them. Major mood swings then, I finally thought. I laughed to myself and noticed that I was at the end of the street.

For a little while I went looking around at all the shops that were here. It was crazy because there was so many. Tulsa was nothing like this. I guess that was one good difference. I wasn't enjoying just walking around looking at things so I decided to go home. But I hoped to God that the same girl that I just ran into wouldn't be there again. If she was, I'd make sure I was on the _other_ side of the road.

But I guess I jinxed it because just before I got at least 30 feet from my house a door creeped open. I automatically knew that it was _her_ house. Before I could make a run for it, a little dog burst through the dog wouldn't shut up either. It was a pug, I think. When I was about to leave and ignore the dog, she stumbled through the door. "Katie!" she yelled from the top of her lungs. "Get over here!" The dog wouldn't respond so I took it upon my responsibility to pick the dog up and bring it over to her. The dog didn't bite me as I expected, but instead he, or she, seemed to like me. I rubbed his head lightly and gave the dog to his owner, who was standing on the last step of her steps.

I looked at her. Her hair was light brown and straight and it fell along her back. Her eyes were green like I realized before, but this time they were different. The outer ring was read and puffy, and I noticed tissues in her hand. She tried to hide them but you could notice them quickly. "Here you go," I said while placing the dog in her arms. The tissue that she was holding fell to the ground. Without thinking, I picked it up and put it in her soft hand. I didn't bother asking what was wrong with her. She might kill me this time. I decided that I would just introduce myself so then maybe I would figure out that her name was. "Um, I'm Soda," I said quietly. I watched her slightly roll her eyes. She just nodded her head slightly and went inside with the Katie in her arms.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**The Outsiders. **_

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I didn't get much sleep that night. That girl kept creeping up in my mind right after I'd forget about her. I wanted to know why she was crying and why she was so upset. I wanted to ask her but I didn't know how she'd respond. She wasn't like any of the girls I'd ever met. But as the night went on, I finally decided that I would confront her and demand to know what her problem was with me. I didn't do anything to her, so I don't know what'd she have against me.

I must of fell asleep because when I opened my eyes the sun was pouring through the window. I rolled over and picked up a soft pillow so I could put it over my face. I quietly groaned and tried hard to listen to see if anyone was wandering around out in the kitchen. I had no luck so I thought that Darry must of been gone out to his job interview and Ponyboy must of been gone to school. I released the pillow from my warm face and glanced at the clock. The clock wasn't there. When I leaned over I noticed that the clock was scattered on the floor and it was un-plugged. I wondered how it managed to get like that. I guess Ponyboy must of tripped up in it this morning while he was getting ready for school.

I hesitated a few times before I had the energy to get out of bed. I didn't get as much sleep and I would of liked last night, but when I tried to get back to sleep, I failed. Just like many tests that I'd done in school in the past. I slowly crawled out of bed and tripped over the clock. I fell into the door and couldn't help but laugh. I bent down and placed the clock on the nightstand and went out into the kitchen.

I was right, Ponyboy and Darry were both gone. I searched on the counter for some cereal and then raided the fridge for some milk. Luckily, there was some. When I finally found a bowl, I poured some cereal and milk into a bowl and dug in. I was still getting used to my new surroundings. It was only after I was done eating breakfast that I noticed a note on the counter addressed to me.

_Soda, _

_I'm gone for a job interview. I should be back around 4 or 5 this evening. There's left-over chicken in the fridge if you want some. I didn't want to wake you when I left this morning. You looked pretty tired. Ponyboy will be home a little later today too. So don't get worried if he doesn't get home when he's supposed to. _

_Darry. _

_P.S. _

_Go and meet the people next door if you get bored. I didn't get the chance yet. I will soon though._

I didn't know how long I was staring at the note after that. '_Go and meet the people next door.'_ Yeah I was really going to go and do that. Last night I knew I was going to go and ask her what her problem was, but today I didn't know if I had the heart to or not. It took some time to decide but in the end I decided to go over and at least try to make peace. But I was honestly afraid of her.

I was just about to walk out of the house with just underwear on but I stopped myself just when I had my hand on the door knob. I sprinted to my room and got some jeans, and a white undershirt. Then I found a red and black flannel that would go over it. I thought that that was good enough so I just left my room and shut the wooden door behind me.

I was walking over towards the house next door when I noticed the girl sitting on the steps of her house. I took a deep breath and trudged over. "Hey," I said. My voice sounded shaky. She just looked over and quickly looked away. I got a little closer and said without thinking, "Look, what did I ever do to you?"

She just stood up from where she was sitting and walked over to where I was in four long strides. She looked up and me and a grim smile crossed her pale face. "Oh, not a lot." Her voice was solid like a rock as she spoke. I wasn't going to put up with this any longer.

"Then do you mind telling me what your problem is then?" My voice sounded more confident this time. She laughed and her lips went in a straight line. "I just moved here two days ago and I barely know you," I added. Her mouth opened but she closed it quickly.

"You won't get it," she said after minutes of silence.

"I won't get what?" I responded. "I might not be smart, but I think I might be able to keep up." I gave her the kind of look telling her to go on.

"Look, I don't really care if you're smart or not. I just don't like you. You look like the type of guy who thinks he can get any girl he wants. Oh, correction. You _think_ you are the kind of guy who can get any guy he wants. Well listen here, you can't get any girl you want, and you certainly won't be getting me!" Her voice echoed through my head. I was glad that nobody was walking along the sidewalk because they would've enjoyed this.

I spoke up. "I don't know what you're getting on with," I began. "You don't even know anything about me. You might remember my name from the other day but that's it. I don't even know your name for crying out loud! I know _nothing_ about you and you know nothing about me! So stop making these judgements." I usually didn't act like that around girls but I couldn't help it this time.

She looked down for the first time since our conversation. "Natasha," she whispered. "My name is Natasha and I'm 17 years old. My birthday is on May 26th and I don't like you!" she screamed. "So leave. me. alone." She turned around and bolted for her door. She slammed the door so hard that I thought the glass window in the door was going to shatter.


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